Bundesliga: Bayern Munich drop first points of the season

The European champions were held to a 1-1 draw at Freiburg after they leaked a late equaliser.

Written by Agence-France Presse

Updated: August 28, 2013 10:20 AM IST

Read Time: 3 min

Berlin:

European champions Bayern Munich dropped their first points of the Bundesliga season in a 1-1 draw at Freiburg on Tuesday ahead of their Super Cup clash against Chelsea.

Bayern were on course to maintain their perfect start to the season after three league wins until they leaked a late equaliser and also suffered an injury blow when midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger came off with an ankle problem.

He is an injury concern for Friday's Super Cup clash against Europa League winners Chelsea in Prague as well as Germany's upcoming World Cup qualifying double-header against Austria and Faroe Islands.

"He will be examined in Munich, we hope that he will be able to play against Chelsea," said Bayern's media director Markus Hoerwick.

Bayern still moved a point clear at the top of the table, although Mainz, Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen can all leapfrog them should they win their game in hand this weekend.

Bayern coach Pep Guardiola - who has introduced a new 4-1-4-1 system since coming in to replace Jupp Heynckes - made several changes to his line-up from the one that beat Nuremberg 2-0 on Saturday.

He rested six of his first-choice side, leaving out wingers Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery, who both netted at the weekend.

"If you only lead 1-0, then you are always vulnerable to concede an equaliser," said Guardiola.

"I don't think I risked too much with that line-up.

"I don't know if we missed one or two players, I took the decision and those on the pitch played well."

Bayern dominated the game but, not for the first time, failed to convert a string of chances despite enjoying 75 percent possession after setting a new Bundesliga record of 81 in Saturday's win over Nuremberg.

"We only have ourselves to blame," said captain Philipp Lahm, who was one of those rested, but came on for the second-half.

"We had enough chances to make it 2-0, but we were punished."

Bayern had got off to a promising start and showed their class when German international Thomas Mueller beat three defenders on the right and crossed to the far post where Swiss winger Xherdan Shaqiri drilled the ball home on 23 minutes.

Freiburg started to exert some second-half pressure, however, and were rewarded with the equaliser four minutes from time.

Substitute Mike Hanke switched play from the left to the right wing, where Sebastian Freis swung in a cross which midfielder Nicolas Hoefler fired past goalkeeper Manuel Neuer from close range to delight the home fans.

Freiburg coach Christian Streich was delighted with his side's determination to hold the defending champions.

"When you play against Bayern Munich, you need above all an extremely high tolerance to frustration," he said.

"It's absolutely fantastic how we dealt with losing possession and worked hard to get it back."